Shad roe is a delicacy of springtime. In the East, the shad run in early spring. Here in the West, however, the fish don’t run up the rivers until late spring. Here’s my favorite way to cook shad roe – with bacon, some onions and a bowl of grits.

Cooking and eating the American shad used to be part of any angler’s skill set. No longer. All those bones have defeated many a would-be shad eater. But here’s how to cook shad and actually enjoy it. Everything you need to know about dealing with a fish whose Latin name is “tastiest.”

Sitting in a backwater of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, fruitlessly fishing for sturgeon, my friend and guide R.J. casually mentioned that he’d seen herring the last time he’d been fishing on the San Francisco Bay. Herring? Really? My heart jumped. Hesitantly, I asked if he would take me out fishing for them. Ninety-nine guides out of